Long ago, I stopped asking myself, “What causes Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?”. Each client’s history was so unique that I began to understand that more than genetics contributes to their attention deficits. As I took each client’s medical and trauma history, I began to see a common predisposition for food sensitivities, food allergies, and/or poor ear, nose, and throat health. Therefore, people with ADHD can often improve their focus by changing their diet.

What You Eat Affects Your Brain and Ears

Did you know that there are Six Foods Contributing to Inflammation of the eustachian tubes that diminish your hearing? Thus, your diet can contribute to fluid in the middle ear with or without an ear infection. Additionally, pressure in your middle ear builds up causing discomfort like what you feel when a plane takes off.

There are numerous types of poor ear, nose, and throat health that diminish your hearing. For example, some clients suffered from ear infections during their formative years of brain development. Others snored due to enlarged adenoids disrupting their quality of sleep. Many clients suffered from chronic congestion or eustachian tube inflammation due to environmental allergies or sensitivities to foods. When treatment is delayed, research shows negative effects on brain development during developmental years that include high school.

Needless to say, whether you have ADHD or not, your diet and ear, nose, and throat health can affect your ability to focus and so much more. I created the Moore Auditory-Visual Questionnaire to improve your ability to communicate your needs with doctors. Your Moore Auditory-Visual Questionnaire Report and additional help from me validate our requests.

I am passionate about guiding and supporting clients through the process of referrals to specialists. Most importantly, I work with clients reviewing medical and injury history to improve the client’s ability to respond to auditory integration training, vision therapy, and maintain progress.

I Can’t Improve My Focus – Common Complaints From Those with ADHD

The most common complaint shared by my clients with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is difficulty ignoring sounds. They hear everything and sometimes sounds cause discomfort. Even more frustrating, they are distracted by others talking in the background when trying to listen.

Did you know that being able to focus on one person talking and ignoring background sound is an auditory processing skill that develops during childhood?

Hearing and Vision are Connected

Most of my clients with sound sensitivities also struggled with vision that blurred and/or letters that appeared to move while reading. When there is diminished hearing, the inner ear’s vestibular system is also under-stimulated negatively affecting the coordination of head, neck, and eye movement. The eyes must move together in all directions to keep vision single and clear.

How well would you pay attention, work, and learn if you were unable to ignore sounds and objects blurred or appeared to double, shift, and move?

Cheri Moore

Understanding ADHD

Diminished Hearing and Sound Sensitivities

Long ago, researchers found that the middle ear stapedius muscle protects the cochlear from harmful levels of sound.

Do you remember learning about the three bones in the middle ear during health or science class? The smallest bone, the stapes bone, taps on the cochlea amplifying sound energy that is then absorbed by the hairs in the cochlea. What most of us were not taught is that when sound levels are too loud, the stapedius muscle pulls the stapes bone away from the cochlea.

Unfortunately, numerous events like ear infections, inflamed eustachian tubes, congestion, and enlarged adenoids can diminish the ability for sound energy to strongly stimulate the stapedius nerve and muscle.

What Happens When the Stapedius Muscle Fails to Receive Enough Sound Energy Stimulation?

Diet Can Improve Ear Health and Focus for Those with ADHD

I will never forget one of my kindergarten students asking the child standing next to him in line,

“Why are you hurting my ears?”

Thankfully, I recognized my student’s sound sensitivity behavior and encouraged the other student to whisper.

Later, I learned that an egg allergy was causing inflammation in his eustachian tubes. Amazingly, this little one’s speech became more fluent and clear after his mother eliminated eggs from his diet.

Strengthening Your Hearing

I have personally seen improvements that are hard to comprehend after dietary modifications. Knowing which foods to rotate or eliminate from one’s diet should be done with the guidance of IgG food sensitivity testing and IgE food allergy testing (blood test-antibodies). But this isn’t the whole picture.

Yes, removing inflammatory foods from your diet can improve your focus. However, after you reduce the inflammation, you are left with a weakened hearing system. Taking the next step to strengthen your hearing system is just as important as removing the source of the inflammation.

I ensure clients have healthy ears so they can respond strongly to 10 to 14 days of auditory integration training. When a healthy hearing system receives strong sound energy, your hearing system continues to strengthen. Consequently, your tolerance to sounds will continue to improve. Then, online auditory processing games strengthens your ability to listen with comprehension and remember.

Helpful Resources

Because food plays such an important part in your ear health, I encourage you to use my free resources:

• Tips on How to Bake Without Eggs – egg free recipes coming soon
• Learn How to Shop While On An Elimination Diet and download your Free Food Elimination Tracker
• You can still enjoy your favorite foods, How to Shop Dairy Free On An Elimination Diet
• Hints and tips for Affordable Gluten Free Cooking and Baking
• How to Help the Sensitive Gut Baby and Toddler and download your Symptom Tracker with Food Elimination Chart
• Infant Gut Health, Symptoms, and Healing provide IgG and IgE testing resources and probiotic information
• Lastly, enjoy our Picture by Picture Dairy and Gluten Free Recipes

Take the Next Step to Stregthen Your Hearing

I am happy to say that those with ADHD can improve their focus.

If you would like to work with me to strengthen your hearing, I encourage you to complete the Moore Auditory-Visual Questionnaire. After you complete the questionnaire, I will work with you one on one to develop your auditory-visual training protocol.